Looking Forward to Retirement
by Lionheart 39
Summary: UNIT is under attack. The Brigadier has to interrupt his leave to sort it out.


Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart kissed his Fiancée as they got back into his car. He had got rid of the small MG he had bought after Fiona had left him and bought a comfortable and more practical Range Rover. It had enough room for all the plants Doris liked to buy at the garden centre. He smiled at that, he had never considered gardening as a hobby. He'd always lived in army accommodation or in rented accommodation in London, where a window box was a luxury. But now, with retirement only a year away and Doris owning a very large house with half an acre of garden, he had found he quite liked gardening. He especially enjoyed it when Doris brought him tea, and they sat together admiring the results of his labour.

Today they had been visiting Doris's Aunt, who lived quite near UNIT HQ. They had visited the near by garden centre and bought a small apple tree and then enjoyed coffee in the cafe. Stopping for lunch at a very nice pub had rounded their day out off nicely. Alistair was very much looking forward to retirement if it meant spending his days like this.

They had just taken the old lady back home, when he noticed two UNIT land rovers speed past the end of the drive heading west. Mike Yates and John Benton were in the Vehicles. He had to refrain from pulling the radio out of his inside pocket. After all as far as Doris knew their section dealt with UN pensions.

They had spent a very pleasant half hour with Doris's Aunt and were heading back to Doris's house and had driven about 3 miles towards the motorway when the radio in his pocket crackled and Carol Bells voice could be heard .

"Greyhound Leader, Greyhound Leader, this is Trap one, we are under attack! Repeat, we are under attack!"

Alistair yanked the car into the side of the road and took out the radio from his inside pocket. Doris's eyes were wide open, staring at Alistair's set jaw.

"Trap one, this is Greyhound Leader, what have we got?" he asked his voice grave but commanding.

Doris heard relief in the young woman's voice "Autons, sir. Approximately 20 sir."

"Who have we got at base?" Alistair asked.

" Sargent Osgood Sir. Mr Yates and Mr Benton are already out and we have two sections out on Manoeuvres with Lt. Wells. Sir, we only have technical section and the office staff."

"Any sign of the Doctor?" he asked.

"No ,Sir!" came the reply.

"Typical." Alistair muttered.

"Carol evacuate all office staff to the deep shelter, tell Sargent Osgood to get whatever bazookas and grenade launches we have out. You can't stop Autons with assault rifles."

"Have you contacted Mr Yates?"

"They report they have been surrounded and are under attack Sir!"

"Alistair!" Doris yelled as two cars skidded to a halt next to them!

Alistair floored the accelerator and rammed past one of the cars, then running a five bar gate headed over fields towards UNIT HQ. He passed Doris the radio she held it near his ear as he spoke.

"Osgood!"

"Sir!" came the reply.

"We will be coming in from the back field, behind the Lab. Be ready to open the loading doors and blast us a path through if necessary."

"Sir!" came the reply.

"I take it you are nothing to do with pensions!" Doris stated.

"No Love, sorry! We are a Special Operation Force, top secret!" he told her shame faced. "The Pension thing is our cover!"

She looked at him annoyed, " So my Hope's that I'd found a nice steady man with a safe job seem to have been a bit misguided!"

Alistair's heart sank. His Hope's of a happy retirement tending the garden and having Doris bring him tea looked like they were on the rocks. He was sure after this he would be facing the lonely future he had been dreading before they had got together!

As they got to the rise of the hill they could see shop store dummies surrounding the HQ building.

"Those are the things that caused all that trouble a few years ago!" Doris said.

Alistair looked at Doris. "We stopped them once let's see if we can stop them again."

"Greyhound Two to Greyhound Leader," Mike Yates voice crackled over the radio.

"Go ahead Mike"

"Sir, Corporal Wallace says he thinks the people ambushing us are from the Vault! Over!"

"The Vault!" Alistair snapped!

"Carol, get Geneva on the line!" he ordered. "Oh and Carol use the emergency code to my safe and get that intergalactic communication device of the Doctor's out for me."

They saw a bazooka shell fell two of the Autons and Alistair gunned the Range Rovers engine heading for double doors that swung open seconds before they arrived and clanged shut again just as the Range Rover stopped inches from the opposite wall!"

Alistair jumped out of the Range Rover and went around to lift Doris out. He held her close for a second and whispered "Sorry love."

Holding Doris's hand he jogged down towards his office, Carol had the intergalactic telegraph on her desk.

"Doctor!" Alistair said into it "Doctor!"

"Sorry Lethbridge-Stewart," came the reply, "but I'm busy at the moment!"

"Yes, Doctor, so are we. I just want to know why my HQ is surrounded by Autons and a platoon of my men are being ambushed by operatives from the Vault! What is it that you failed to hand over when the people from the Vault came to collect all the artefacts last month."

"Sorry, Brigadier, I don't .."

"Doctor, I have men injured and you have probably just screwed up any chance I had of the retirement I wanted. So tell me now or don't ever bother contacting me again, our association is over!"

"Alistair!" the Doctor's voice faulted! "Oh, alright, one of the Nestene energy spheres from the forest, I got it working again last week. It's in a metal ammunition box in the store cupboard in my Lab."

"Right, Corporal Bell, please take Mrs Wilson into the deep bunker. Start recording and transmit all video and audio feeds, from the Lab back to Geneva. Sargent Osgood, I need you to take two hand grenades and some of that instant glue stuff of the Doctor's to the lab." He was hurriedly putting his spare uniform on.

When the Autons had finally broken in through the loading doors Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge -Stewart was stood holding the triggers on two hand grenades that had their pins removed. These were glued to either side of the pink Nestene energy sphere! Alistair held up the makeshift device. "I think this is checkmate General!" he called. "You shoot me and your sphere blows up."

They heard a voice issue from one of the Auton. "Why, Brigadier, just when you have found yourself a lovely lady and are looking forward to a well earned retirement would you want to kill yourself?"

"Because, not everything happens as you want it to, General. My duty is to the people I'm paid to protect. What happens to me is irrelevant. But you attacked my people and you have reactivated these monsters. Well, no more, General. The Vault, isn't getting this technology. Alistair tossed the sphere at the Autons and the grenades exploded."

The cameras went off line. Carol Bell, was stood watching the monitor but it was only showing white static. Tears were flowing down her face. Doris was stood hands over her mouth trying to stifle a scream, while looking in horror at the monitor. Osgood was racing up the stairs, checking the monitor in the hallway before opening the deep bunker door. All the Autons seemed to have deactivated.

Doris raced after him as he ran through the corridors to the lab. They entered the wrecked lab to find the Auton Army in there destroyed by the blast and the Brigadier laid behind a work bench. Doris dropped to her knees next to him, brushing the plaster and dust from his face. "Alistair", she pleaded, "come on love, wake up!"

His eyes opened and Doris swallowed back a sob, "Thank goodness," she said "I thought I was going to have to plant that apple tree myself!"

The Brigadier quirked a slight smile at her and squeezed her hand.

Carol Bell entered the lab and looked at the Brigadier, relief etched across her face at seeing him getting to his feet with the aid of Doris and Osgood. "Mr Yates has just reported that their attackers have broken off. Geneva are contacting C19 about today's incident, Sir!"

"Thank you Carol and please pass my thanks to your section. Sargent Osgood thank you and your men for their sterling work." He said brushing down his uniform. "I will be making sure Geneva hear about both of your actions today, when I make out my report!"

"Which will be tomorrow," Doris said, "you are still on leave and you have an apple tree to plant this afternoon. So you best go and get changed out of that uniform and ask Carol to get it dry cleaned for you!"

He was about to argue that he had to make his report, when Carol Bell murmured in to his ear, "Always best to follow orders Sir, makes for an easier life!"

He smiled at her and headed to his office to get changed.

Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart, had to smile at the astonished looks on Yates and Benton's face as he drove out of the gates in a rather battered Range Rover.

"Will your Doctor be upset with the mess you made of his Laboratory?" Doris asked worriedly.

"Oh, Yes. He will be furious " He said smiling.

Doris placed her hand on his knee and Alistair placed his hand over it. After today he was certainly looking forward to retirement!


End file.
